The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) are best known for their run in Ring of Honor.

TNA President Dixie Carter’s initiative to bring in new talent to IMPACT Wrestling is off to a great start as world-renowned tag team specialists Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards are now a part of the company. While Dixie wanted The American Wolves to take part in a try-out match, a possible snide-remark towards WWE, Richards and Edwards were signed to TNA contracts by a mystery investor. Whoever that investor is, kudos to him or her. (video below)

Best known for their time in Ring of Honor Wrestling, The American Wolves have each won the ROH World Heavyweight championship; are two-time ROH Tag Team champions; and Eddie Edwards is recognized as the inaugural ROH World Television champion. It was shortly after their brief second reign as the tag team champs that The Wolves decided not to resign with the company and pursue their WWE developmental deal down at the Performance Center in Florida.

“With a heavy heart I can announce that myself and ROH have parted ways for good and I will not be at Final Battle. Please continue to support them and the incredible talent they have. Thanks for the memories. It was an amazing ride.” – Davey Richards

Renamed The American Pittbulls: Derek Billington (Richards) and John Cahill (Edwards), debuted on WWE NXT TV in an unsuccessful attempt to throw off the NXT Tag Team champions The Ascension. They left almost immediately after because word has it, the 13-time WWE champion Triple H had lost interest in The American Wolves. How in the world would Hunter lose interest in Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards? Had he not seen their incredible matches in ROH and 2CW? Had the C.O.O. lost his mind? Well, after Richards fell on his head as a result of a miscue spot between him and Rick Victor, Hunter had every right to question them. Imagine, Hunter is in charge of a widely publicly traded corporation, he cannot have reckless talent in the WWE ring.

The Pittbulls–I mean The Wolves’ departure from WWE might be a blessing because let’s face it, there was no way the names Derek Billington and John Cahill were going to draw. Let’s go, Billington… It doesn’t even sound right.

What does it mean for the TNA faithful having The Wolves on IMPACT Wrestling? Well, the social media sites are already beaming at the seams for the eventual confrontation between The Wolves and Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian). All former ROH competitors, these gentlemen have known each other and have squared off in the ring before. If booked properly and scheduled for TNA’s return to pay-per-view at Lockdown in Miami, FL, then it would undoubtedly become an epic encounter.

However, not everyone is thrilled to have The Wolves in TNA:

The Bro Mans, Robbie E and Jesse Godderz, are clearly concerned of The Wolves arrival seeing as they are the current TNA World Tag Team champions. But Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards don’t always have to wrestle as a team. As the way of Beer Money, Inc., The Wolves hunt as a pack, but they are more than capable of hunting on their own. Singles matches against Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Kurt Angle would be at the top of the list.

Answer the Question: What are your thoughts on The Wolves joining TNA Wrestling? Should they have stuck it out in developmental for WWE?

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For the first time in the company’s history, Ring of Honor is without an ROH World Champion. The final title holder was Jay Briscoe, who was stripped of the World championship on July 3rd due to contractual issues. ROH Commissioner Nigel McGuinness made the announcement on Ring of Honor’s YouTube channel, as well as the announcement of a 16-man tournament to crown a new Ring of Honor World champion.

Originally it was believed that Michael Elgin, the no. 1 contender, would be given the title. But instead, Elgin insisted that the ROH World title needed to be earned and agreed to partake in the tournament. Since Ring of Honor is now without a World champion, McGuinness stated that more emphasis would be placed on the World Tag Team championships.

Around this time last year, interestingly enough, the ROH World Tag Team championships were vacated due to a contract dispute with Kenny King, who appeared on a live broadcast of TNA’s IMPACT Wrestling. Ring of Honor’s constant issues with contracts with its talents lead to its greatest threat when Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs won the vacant titles–the team known as S.C.U.M. (Suffering, Chaos, Ugliness, and Mayhem).

Lead by “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen, the man whose had the most issues with contracts, and, at the time, the reigning ROH World champion, S.C.U.M. terrorized the ROH Company with the agenda to destroy it as a whole. S.C.U.M. grew in size, as do most wrestling stables with a common agenda, adding Rhino to the fold.

However, Kevin Steen was ousted from S.C.U.M. after losing the World title to Jay and was replaced by new S.C.U.M. members Cliff Compton, Jimmy Rave, Rhett Titus, and centerpiece Matt Hardy. Cornio became the new leader and dangerously forced Ring of Honor to its extinction.

That was until Corino’s hubris got the better of him, and issued a challenge to Ring of Honor: S.C.U.M. vs Team ROH in a Steel Cage Warfare match. If ROH loses, they must surrender all control over to Steve Corino; but if S.C.U.M. loses, they must disband forever.

Kevin Steen, who has never been a pro-ROH guy especially due to the shady business of former Commissioner Jim Cornette, demanded from McGuinness to be placed on Team ROH. After weeks of matches against members of S.C.U.M., Kevin Steen earned his spot on Team ROH, and eventually earned the winning pinfall that disbanded S.C.U.M. forever.

Kevin Kelly, the lead commentator, shouted throughout the broadcast that Honor Lived, but it seems like Ring of Honor still has a long road of restoration ahead of them. In two weeks, the tournament will commence to crown a new ROH World champion; but in the meantime we still have the ROH World Tag Team championships.

The Ring of Honor episode following Steel Cage Warfare, the defending ROH World Tag Team champions reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) lost the titles to the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov).

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, two-former ROH World champions, chose not to enlist in the ROH World championship tournament because they wanted to focus and reclaim the ROH World Tag Team championships. So down the line, if not soon, expect The American Wolves vs Forever Hooligans for the titles.

Answer the Questions: Does Honor Live in Ring of Honor? Thoughts of Jay Briscoe being stripped of the ROH World championship?

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With a new Ring of Honor Wrestling program set to air on September 24, 2011 on Sinclair stations, we take a brief look back at Ring of Honor on HDNet. Volume 2 of Ring of Honor Wrestling is headlined by the third match between Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black, who was still trying to position himself as the top guy in the company. This volume also includes the debut of KENTA as he takes on Roderick Strong, and competes in a 6-man tag team match alongside the team of El Generico and Kevin Steen against The American Wolves and Chris Hero. Jerry Lynn defends the ROH World Title against Chris Hero, The American Wolves defend the ROH World Tag Team Titles against Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black, plus much more.

With two hours and thirty-five minutes of intense professional wrestling action, plus twenty-five minutes of bonus matches this is a can’t miss DVD. Not even WrestleMania XXVII, with four-hours of air time, was able to match the length of in-ring action as this Volume packs onto one disc.

Davey Richards pulled off an emotional victory when he finally won the ROH World Title from Eddie Edwards on June 26 at Best in the World. Emotional because wrestling consumed his life to fill the void of not having a family. At Final Battle, what was to be his final wrestling bout, became a waking call for Davey after he failed to ascertain the ROH World Title from Roderick Strong. Not only was he staying in Ring of Honor, but he made a promise to ROH officials and to the fans that the next time he challenged for the belt it would be his last. Then on March 19 at Manhattan Mayhem IV, Eddie Edwards defeated Strong for the belt. Many assumed Davey would be upset because Edwards managed to accomplish what he couldn’t, but he was genuinely happy for Eddie because he sees him as a brother.

Although Eddie Edwards was the World Champion, he couldn’t help but doubt himself. Wanting to prove that he was the best, Edwards challenged Davey Richards to a World Title match with the ultimatum, “If you don’t fight me for this World Championship, I quit.” For the first time in history, the champion challenged the challenger because Eddie felt that he may have been overlooked as part of The American Wolves since Davey is so sharp and focused on what he does in the ring. No one added these harsh stipulations, but themselves because they wanted to prove who indeed was the Best in the World.

When Eddie was caught in the ropes, he shouted at Davey who hesitated to follow-up with a strike. “Just do it!” Davey struck Eddie with a kick to the head. Eddie not only asked for this match, but he asked for Davey at his absolute best so that when it was all said and done, there would be no regrets. Eddie didn’t hold back either, having driven Davey through a ringside table with a double foot stomp. The two exchanged strikes and ankle lock submissions, but Davey overcame with a number of kicks, and before delivering the final blow told Eddie, “You asked for it.”

Mirroring what took place at Manhattan Mayhem, Eddie Edwards this time wrapped the ROH World Title around Davey Richards’s waist after a long embrace. Richards delivered a heart wrenching speech that left him his tears. He looked up and said, “Hey grandma, hey grandpa … I DID IT!”

Steve Corino has been on a road of redemption ever since costing Kevin Steen his Ring of Honor career back at Final Battle. Along with his sponsor Jimmy Jacobs, Corino advocated that Jim Cornette and ROH Officials grant Steen a second chance. The Hammerstein Ballroom erupted when they saw Steen up on the balcony. He was stopped by Cornette and crew from entering the ring and was then tossed out by security. After Corino lost his match to Michael Elgin, Truth Martini and Elgin continued by attacking both Corino and Jacobs until Kevin Steen made the save. Then after much deliberation on the part of Jim Cornette, Steen was able to talk and instead of asking for forgiveness, he cursed out Ring of Honor. “F–K ROH!” Steen turned on both Corino and Jacobs before finally being driven out of the Hammerstein Ballroom by security.

El Generico defeated “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels to earn his first singles title in Ring of Honor. Having scored a non-title victory over Daniels when ROH invaded Canada, El Generico battled for the honor of entering Ring of Honor’s new era as the new ROH World Television Champion. Christopher Daniels, despite ROH not having a television deal for several months, felt he was more qualified as the Television Champion because he was the only one still featured on television via SpikeTV. At a point in the match, The Fallen Angel felt so confident that Generico would not be able to answer the 20-count, he started strapping the belt around his waist. But when Generico broke the count, he hit the Yakuza kick and drove Daniels with a top rope Brainbuster to score the pinfall.

In other bouts at Best in the World, Tommaso Ciampa beat Colt Cabana … Jay Lethal pinned Mike Bennett with a diving elbow drop in respect to Randy Savage … Homicide beat Rhino in a No Holds Barred Street Fight … Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin last eliminated The Kings of Wrestling to retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles in a Four Way Elimination match also involving The All Night Express and Jay and Mark Briscoe.

The dark match, which will be available as a DVD exclusive, was a Dream Tag Team match between Generation Me (The Young Bucks) against the new up-and-comers Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly.

If WWE and TNA are ever in the market to learn how to compose a compelling storyline, they should watch Kevin Steen. His feud with El Generico, which spanned all of 2010, and this segment at Best in the World is entertainment and impeccable storytelling at its finest.

Until next time: Remember to subscribe to Wrestling Times X to receive new posts directly to your e-mail. Share this and all posts. And follow me on Twitter @WrestlingTimesX for quick rants.

During the Memorial Day weekend sale, ROHWrestling.com had a 40% off sale on all ROH store merch. And because Cablevision does not have HDNet, I am unable to watch ROH on Monday Nights.

Author’s Note: People tend to focus on TNA taking on WWE’s RAW in what was poorly accredited as the Monday Night Wars 2 that they do not realize that since March 31, 2009, Ring of Honor Wrestling could also be seen on Monday Nights.

I took the liberty of purchasing ROH on HDNet Vol. 1 DVD which features the 10 best matches throughout the course of their first twelve episodes. And after watching 10 main events in the span of a 3-hour single-disc DVD, all I can say is that ROH is the superb wrestling show. Aside from the first match between Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black, the rest of the DVD is non-stop action. The wrestling seen in these 3 hours will change the way you look at WWE or TNA because it is so innovative.

The following are spoiler-free. Unless you are unaware of who is the ROH World Champion as of today (June 6, 2010), then yes… I’ve spoiled that.

1. Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs – Episode # 1

The last time I saw Jimmy Jacobs was Glory by Honor V, Night 2 (2006) in a triple-threat against Christopher Daniels and Colt Cabana. And Jacobs just looks really weird now. He looks like he spent his allowance on Hot Topic apparel.

In this match, it is revealed that both Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries share a hatred for Tyler Black. And throughout this DVD, you see the evolution of Tyler Black into the new face of the company, which lead to his eventual role as the ROH Champion.

2. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – Episode # 3

At the 8th Anniversary Show (2010), I really started digging “A-Double” Austin Aries because he is such a great heel. So what happens when “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” takes on “The Best Wrestler in the World?”

3. Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega – Episode # 4

Kenny Omega makes his first appearance on ROH on HDNet in an impressive effort against A-Double. Kenny Omega is one crazy, comedic character, who has a lot of athleticism. It’s obvious that he has a fascination for Anime because he does the Dragon Ball Z stance when he enters the ring. Definitely a favorite as well, and will be a great asset to ROH.

4. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – Episode # 6

Now, I may not like Tyler Black but I respect him enough. This match was given a 20-minute time limit. Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black went toe-to-toe, with neither of them giving in to the other. Bryan Danielson is the veteran as he is a former champion, and also making his way out of ROH as he was signing with WWE. While Tyler Black was being set to become the next big thing in the company. It’s like when Ric Flair went up against Sting. Sting wasn’t quite there, but Flair helped him get to that next level.

5. Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries – Episode # 7

Only the Strong survives, but how did Roderick Strong fare against his former tag team partner A-Double? Both Aries and Strong know each other so well because they held the ROH World Tag Team Titles for a span of 9-months, named so after they defended the titles against Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino in Japan.

6. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – Episode # 8

A rematch from Episode #6, Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson lasted longer than their first 20-minute match. Possibly hoping for a decisive winner in this second bout. But what took place was unbelievable. For a match that went over 20-minutes, there were no dull moments.

Kevin Steen is known as “Mr. Wrestling.” Your initial impression is that he’s a fat bastard. After a few minutes of watching this man wrestle, you will know why they call him “Mr. Wrestling.”

El Generico is a Canadian pro-wrestler with a Luchador gimmick. Currently, Mr. Wrestling turned heel on El Generico, but on this DVD, you can see them working as a cohesive unit before the turn.

Kenny King is like the Shelton Benjamin of ROH, which would make Rhett Titus Charlie Haas. These two are still currently teaming together to this day, but too much show boating from Rhett Titus’ Rick Rude-like thrusts loses valuable momentum in matches.

8. Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny Omega vs. Kenny King – Episode # 10

Jay Briscoe, and his brother Mark, are known for as the only wrestlers, currently working for the company, who were featured on ROH’s first-ever event in February 2002. They held the ROH World Tag Team Titles a record of six times as a team. And on December 29, 2007, during their fourth reign, the Briscoe Brothers became the longest reigning tag team champions in ROH history.

Jay and Kenny King tried making this a one-on-one bout, continually tossing Kenny Omega over the ropes. Not feeling that he was up to par with either of them. But Kenny Omega made a name for himself in this Triple-Threat match.

The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) attacked Kevin Steen and El Generico at the end of their match with Titus and King on Episode 9. Sending a message that The American Wolves have targeted the ROH World Tag Team Champions.

Author’s Note: Unlike WWE or TNA, when tables break in ROH it really breaks. The tables aren’t precut as in other wrestling shows, so more pressure must be applied to break them.

One of the greatest maneuvers was when El Generico jumped through the ropes on one side of turnbuckle, appeared on the other side, and executed a tornado DDT on Eddie Edwards. Phenomenal. It blew my mind.

After a long journey through some intense match-ups, the three men featured the most on this DVD meet with the ROH World Champion, Jerry Lynn in a Fatal 4-Way match. And believe me, this match probably will outshine the two Fatal 4-Way matches set for WWE’s Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.

Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries are former ROH World Champions, looking to make it 2, while Tyler Black still on the hunt (at this point) for his first ROH World Title. As for Jerry Lynn, he’s trying to prove that he is still worth a damn in the world of professional wrestling.

You can feel the sweat and exhaustion that these four competitors put themselves through in this non-stop match. At times these wrestlers were fighting without a second to catch their breath. This match was the sole reason why I purchased the DVD, and after traveling through 3-hours of ROH action, this was the perfect way to end the first volume, in what hopefully will be many more to come.

Beyond the DVD

This DVD features no bonus materials. So no bonus matches, no music videos, and no Shimmer matches. ROH didn’t even take the time to make a flashy menu screen. The DVD is pretty bare, with the ROH on HDNet opening theme playing before 10 of the Best ROH Wrestling matches on HDNet.